Overview

This route is a 5.35-mile alternative to the regular route for climbing McCullough Mountain in the South McCullough Wilderness Area. This is not a particularly good route to the summit, but if used for the descent, it makes the route into a big figure-8-loop with only a few minutes of backtracking. From the summit, this route runs east on the summit ridge to the crest of the range, then turns south along the crest, crosses the McCullough Mountain Washes Route, and continues south along the crest. Ridges to the east lead to washes, and a bit of ridge hopping ends at Pipe Spring and the end of the dirt road. This route is less efficient and adds about 1 mile to the route, but it follows ridges with spectacular views rather than closed-in washes. As with the McCullough Mountain Washes Route, the complex topography of these mountains requires a bit of orienteering skills.

Because this is not a good route to climb the mountain, I have described it from top to bottom as a descent route. Therefore, the route starts in Pinyon-Juniper Woodlands (Upper Sonoran Life Zone) and descends into Mojave Desert Scrub (Upper Sonoran Life Zone). On the ridges, the trees, mats of Pricklypear Cactus, and Banana Yucca make for considerable winding around and slow, careful going.

Link to map or elevation profile.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ... this is a fairly safe hike. The ridges and sidehills are steep with loose rocks, but there are no cliffs or other unusual obstacles. The rocky outcrops look like good rattlesnake country. The major concern on this hike is the loose footing among dense Banana Yucca and Pricklypear Cactus.

While hiking, please respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. This hike goes into the South McCullough Wilderness Area, so pay particular attention to respecting the land. This hike runs off-trail where nobody will find you, so be sure to bring the 10 Essentials. Cell phones work from ridges high on the east side of the crest, but I could not call out from the summit or ridges where I could see down the west side of the mountains.

Getting to the Trailhead

This hike is located in the McCullough Range, about 1.5 hours southeast of Las Vegas between Searchlight and Primm. Under the best of conditions, the access road does not require 4WD, but there is a steep hillside and two long, sandy washes. I drove the road in 2WD, but with the comfort of knowing that I could shift into 4WD at any time.

For directions, see the McCullough Mountain Washes Route.

The Hike

From the summit (Table 1, Waypoint 18), the route runs east along the east summit ridge to a saddle (Wpt. 19). If descending via the McCullough Mountain Washes Route, this is the place to cut down to the wash.

From the saddle (Wpt. 19), the route continues east along the ridge, skirting one side or the other of several rocky knobs. Although it doesn't look like it on the ground, about 0.65 miles out the ridge (Wpt. 20), the east summit ridge ends where it connects with the crest of the range. From that point, the route continues eastward along the crest for another 0.43 miles to a rocky knob (Wpt. 22) where (although it doesn't look like it on the ground) the crest turns south.

From the rocky knob (Wpt. 22), the route turns almost due south along the crest on a broad, gently sloping ridgetop with lots of trees, yucca, and pricklypear. The lay of the land looks like you should head southeast, but stay to the south heading for a highpoint (Wpt. 24) farther down the crest.

From that highpoint (Wpt. 24), the route continues south, staying on the now-obvious ridge. At about 2.03 mile out, the route crosses the saddle (Wpt. 27) where the McCullough Mountain Washes Route drops into the west to the west.

From the saddle (Wpt. 27), the route continues south along the crest, climbing steeply along the ridge and passing along the east edge of a rocky outcrop to gain the top of a high knob (Wpt. 28).

From that highpoint (Wpt. 28), the route runs southwest along the crest, passing two highpoints and approaches a third where a major side ridge runs off to the east. When the ridgeline below the third highpoint steepens (Wpt. 30), the route leaves the crest, traverses the northeast side of the highpoint, and emerges onto the ridge to the east (Wpt. 31) near a rocky outcrop.

The route descends the ridge to the east to a saddle (Wpt. 34) where the wash to the south is not far below. The route drops off the steep hillside into the wash (Wpt. 35) and follows the wash down for about 0.53 miles, passing an unusual cabin structure in the wash along the way. When the wash curves to the east (Wpt. 38), cow trails can be followed over the low ridge to the south and down into the next wash (Wpt. 39). This wash is followed for about 0.12 miles to a large, round water trough on the edge of the wash (Wpt. 40). The route climbs the hillside behind the trough and drops into the wash on the other side, which if all went well, is Pipe Spring and the end of the dirt road. The road is followed back to the trailhead (Wpt. 44).